--- title: Mary Lambert Talks About Writing "Secrets" description: The "Same Love" singer says the track, off her album Heart on My Sleeve, puts a twist on self-acceptance anthems canonical: https://time.com/3394520/mary-lambert-secrets/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-18T14:00:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:01:38.137Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Watch Mary Lambert Explain How She Wrote 'Secrets' og:description: The singer calls it her "first fun song" og:url: https://time.com/3394520/mary-lambert-secrets/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20884595abc1e544/6986a3e0adae44d802544ffd/lambert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4372 og:image:height: 2459 og:image:alt: Mary Lambert og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Mary Lambert Explain How She Wrote 'Secrets' twitter:description: The singer calls it her "first fun song" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt20884595abc1e544/6986a3e0adae44d802544ffd/lambert.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Mary Lambert Share the Story Behind Her 'First Fun Song' > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Mary Lambert - "Secrets" Track by Track [Watch (HLS stream): Mary Lambert - "Secrets" Track by Track](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kVJXC3Hg.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2014-09-18. Mary Lambert - "Secrets" Track by Track_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 18, 2014 2:00 PM UTC Mary Lambert - "Secrets" Track by Track  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Sep 18, 2014 2:00 PM UTC Mary Lambert provided one of last year’s most noteworthy self-acceptance anthems with her Macklemore & Ryan Lewis collaboration, “Same Love,” but getting people to feel comfortable in their own skin is harder than it sounds. “I realize that there were songs about empowerment and self-love and all these really wonderful messages coming out, but I felt like they were often tied up in this bow, like _love yourself! Be who you are_!” the 25-year-old singer says about her upcoming album, the appropriately titled _Heart on My Sleeve_, in an exclusive video premiering on TIME. “But it’s not cutting through — we’re still not being real about it.” So on her single “Secrets,” the 25-year-old leads by example, talking about her bipolar disorder, her weight and other parts of her identity she’s learned to embrace. Lambert calls the track her “first fun song” that she recorded, and it’s easy to see why — having nothing to hide looks liberating. _Heart on My Sleeve_ hits stores on Oct 14\. Listen to “Secrets” below in the meantime: ## Transcript [00:00] Secrets is, the first fun song I've ever written. And this [00:04] is a co- write with, Eric Rosse, Benny Cassette, [00:07] MoZella. And even though it was like a very structured [00:11] co- write, it still felt very organic in the way everything [00:14] came about. And I didn't sort of set out to write a fun [00:17] song. But we just had, you know, the one piano [00:20] melody, and then, and then, then he put some drums [00:24] and claps on top of it and Mo and I were just so [00:27] excited about writing something empowering and fun, [00:30] and I realized there were a lot of songs about [00:34] empowerment, and self love, and all these [00:39] really wonderful messages coming out. And in fact they [00:41] were often tied up in this bow. Like love yourself, be [00:45] who you are and, and, but no one's really, it's, it's, it's [00:48] not, it's not cutting through. Like there's still, we're still [00:51] not being real about it. And I think the only way that [00:55] you could really ask someone to be their true self is to [00:59] turn the lens on, on, on yourself. so. 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